SBS fires back at allegations made by SAG-AFTRA

September 07, 2017

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (“SBS”) released a statement repudiating the recent claims made by SAG-AFTRA regarding alleged anti-union actions purported to have been undertaken at its radio facilities in Los Angeles.

"The recent allegations trumpeted by the Union against our Company are not only totally false and malicious, they are, in fact, an insult to the talented and professional on-air personnel the Union claims to represent", stated SBS Chairman Raúl Alarcón.

"Not only are the recent claims not true in the case of our Los Angeles personnel, they are untrue as evidenced by hundreds of employees who have worked at SBS during nearly 35 years of operations at dozens of broadcasting facilities throughout the country.

"SBS is one of the last remaining broadcasting entities owned, operated and controlled by Hispanics and a source of pride for millions of listeners as well as the artists and advertisers it has served since 1983.

"I find it ironic that, at this critical juncture when Latino culture and its institutions are under relentless attack, the Union has singled out for criticism the one truly national Hispanic media organization with an unblemished historical record of service to our community.

"Nevertheless, the Company will vigorously defend itself against these false claims to the fullest extent permitted by the law", asserted Alarcón.

SBS General Counsel, Richard D. Lara, stated, “It is unfortunate that SAG-AFTRA once again is resorting to blatant and transparent attempts at intimidating our Company into accepting unfair contract demands.”

Lara further noted, "SBS has provided witness testimony and thousands of documents to the NLRB directly contradicting the outlandish SAG-AFTRA allegations concerning a handful of employees at our two LA-based radio stations, and we fully expect to prevail against these spurious claims.

"Despite the Union's schoolyard tactics, SBS will continue to coordinate, cooperate and negotiate in good faith with SAG-AFTRA as we expect the Union to focus on the facts and discontinue making untrue and inflammatory remarks in the media," Lara added.